Favourite TV ever?

[walkka]

Just to mirror the movie one. Now 1 rule I think we could place on this to spice it up. The ability to exclude season. Example; one of my many favourite shows is "Friends" seasons 1-5. I'm sure you all get what I'm saying so, on with the show. I Though I could list off all the different show I love my top 2 are "Fire Fly" and "Batman: The Animated Series". I should also give special nod to "Arrested Development".

What say you?

[Stella]

I have to say "Alias" is one of my top shows! I'm also a big fan of Smallville and Gilmore Girls. Those were always my main three. On the animated side, I, too, love BTAS, as well as Spider-Man TAS, and JL!

[tabularasa]

It's always hard for me since I watch a lot of of TV. But here's a top 10

10.) Friday Night Lights (Seasons 1,3, &4. Season 2 was the only bad thing from the show)
9.) Rescue Me (The entire series. It's hit and miss a lot, but it's pretty good)
8.) Six Feet Under (The entire series. Awesome stuff)
7.) Arrested Devlopment (The entire series. One of the smartest sitcoms out there)
6.) The Sopranos (Seasons 1-3. These were great seasons but the others were pretty bad)
5.) Scrubs (Seasons 1-8. The 9th was supposed to be a spin-off)
4.) The Wire (Season 1-4. Greatest drama out there. Only the final season was weak)
3.) Lost (The entire series. I'm not a big fan of season 2 & 5 but you need to see it all)
2.) The Simpsons (Seasons 3-9. Honestly, I'll watch any Simpsons, but these were the best)
1.) Seinfeld (The entire series. I can still laugh and it ended 11 years ago)

[wadewilson]

the only CURRENT shows (other than sports) i watch are psych & South pARK. oTHER THAN THAT IT'S JUST RERUNS OF JACK*** (HOW immature. i know ;D) OR WHATEVER happens to be ON FUEL TV or nick @ Nite.

[Stella]

Yes @ Fuel TV! As a snowboard enthusiast, I concur!

[wadewilson]

Mar 31, 2010 6:06:45 GMT -5 Stella said:

Yes @ Fuel TV! As a snowboard enthusiast, I concur!

More of a surfer myself. i've only been in the snow like once in my whole life, but hopefully i'll actually try snowboarding one day.

Have you ever seen these vids? I saw 'em on fuel last year:

[walkka]

Mar 30, 2010 9:08:28 GMT -5 tabularasa said:

It's always hard for me since I watch a lot of of TV. But here's a top 10

10.) Friday Night Lights (Seasons 1,3, &4. Season 2 was the only bad thing from the show)
9.) Rescue Me (The entire series. It's hit and miss a lot, but it's pretty good)
8.) Six Feet Under (The entire series. Awesome stuff)
7.) Arrested Devlopment (The entire series. One of the smartest sitcoms out there)
6.) The Sopranos (Seasons 1-3. These were great seasons but the others were pretty bad)
5.) Scrubs (Seasons 1-8. The 9th was supposed to be a spin-off)
4.) The Wire (Season 1-4. Greatest drama out there. Only the final season was weak)
3.) Lost (The entire series. I'm not a big fan of season 2 & 5 but you need to see it all)
2.) The Simpsons (Seasons 3-9. Honestly, I'll watch any Simpsons, but these were the best)
1.) Seinfeld (The entire series. I can still laugh and it ended 11 years ago)

Nice list. A lot of good shows on there. or at least shows I like. If I was to make a top 10 . . . hmm

The COULD have bins:
Alias / Lost (Jenny G, the first woman I ever loved and a younger me would have said season 2 of Alias was the best season of TV ever. Not today however. Both these shows were done by Abrams. This is a man that can make begins but the endings are AWFUL. For Alias, season 1 and 2 were gold. 3 was . . . okay. 4 and 5 . . . well lets just say they couldn't have done worse. Lost remains to be seen. I love the characters but the tone of the show is different and that is an issue. P.S. Fringe is Alias re-casted)
The Wire (working my way through it now so . . . ya)
6 Feet Under (I really wanted on the list but need to be cut do to lack of space.)
British Office (I really wanted on the list but need to be cut do to lack of space)
There is the "when I was a kid" list . . . Like Reboot and X-Men:TAS and such but that is for another raining day.

10) Gilmore Girls (The convos between Rory and Lorilie are AMAZING. However I have watched from ep 1 to 1/2 through season 4 about 3 times now and I seem to loose heart part way in each time. I'm not sure why)
9) Friends 1-5 (Guilty pleasure. I just grew up on them)
8) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the show is hit and miss but every season has great moments and the writing is almost unmatched.)
7) Dexter 1,2,4 (3 was weak)
6) West Wing 1-4 (Aaron Sorkin in Rehab was bad for the show)
5) JLU (Animated comics)
4) Arrested Development (SO clever)
3) Pushing Daisies (one of a kind)
1/2) Batman:TAS or Fire Fly (WAY to good for words)

[tabularasa]

In defense of Abrams, who I think has been a good thing for TV and now film, he left Alias after season 3. He was planning on leaving to do another pilot when he then got snatched to working on Lost. He left Lost after episode 7 to do Mission Impossible 3 and had only returned to direct the season 3 premiere. He had nothing to do with Alias' 4th & 5th seasons including the ending. You can put the blame on the writing team who seemed lost (no pun intended) without Abrams. Lost however, seemed to get stronger and stronger without Abrams.

Also side note. Damon Lindelof (co-creator and show runner of Lost) and Abrams later collaborated as producers on the new Star Trek film which also had a storyline about time travel and an alternate universe. Coincidence? I think not.

[walkka]

I know most of the Abrams stuff. But he has, for both shows, remand as a consultant. I also know that the writing teams on both are largely his picking . . . I don't blame all of the fate on these show on him. I know that is harsh. BUT I just find it odd that this same thing has happened on both his shows. Anyway like I say above, Lost is Losted. Season 3 should have been the last one . . . Oh well, no point going any farther on this.

Also RED MATTER from Alias in Star Trek? ya? ya?

[tabularasa]

But I would totally debate you on Lost ending with season 3. I think season 4 was very good quality writing and the flash-forewards a breath of fresh air to the series. The only season I truley dislike was season 5 and only because I feel like the time travel was not needed for the whole season. If the tone of the series changed between season 3 and now, it's because the writers were allowed to do what they wanted. Seasons 2 & 3 were very restricted because ABC was still unsure if the series was going to be 6 seasons long or 10 seasons long. Thankfully, ABC made the right decision in allowing the writers to tell the stories they wanted and end it at a good time. I feel if they had ended the show in season 3, so much went unsaid and them just getting off the island I don't think would've been as satisfying.

[walkka]

I dis-agree. I feel that Lost is the kind of show that should know it's ending going in. I know they don't based on the interviews with the writers that have taken place. They admit that they just toss things in and try to explain them later. I just feel the show as run it's course and should be put down. I'm just not buying people getting super powers, I miss the feel of being lost on the island (I think this is a big point for the show because it was there founding point) and there is far to much repetition. I feel if they had approached season 3 as the last one, it would have been a great ending. Instead the chains were released many more cans of worms were opened. I didn't like it. I also felt the flash forwards were a cheap trick. It was great once but . . . more then that just felt more like they ran out of things to say.

Again. I'm still watching it. I still like the characters. I still like all round quality of the show but few shows can pull off 6 good seasons and I don't think Lost was one of them.

[tabularasa]

The nature of TV is that you can never go in knowing your end point. It's a good thing for writers to think that, but that's not how a network works. Even HBO, a network that gives writers a lot of free roam, want their shows to go on forever. Um...The Sopranos? Should've ended a long time before it did. And you can bet True Blood is going to be around for awhile. A network is not going to invest in a show that's only going to be around for 3 years. The writers of Lost always thought 5 seasons would be good enough. They got 6 instead.

I'm not really sure where you're getting the super powers thing from. Do you mean Jacob and the man in black? They're like gods. I can see your problem with that, but at the same time there was a smoke monster in the first 3 seasons and Walt had powers as well. It's not like they sprung that on you, it was always there. I'd also disagree about flash forewards being a cheap trick. It was a different narrative to tell the story. And if they had just done what flash foreward and then never done it again, it would've felt like a cheap tease.

But again that's just the nature of TV. You're supposed to go into a pitch and pitch a show that can last 10 seasons. It's never supposed to only last 2 or 3. For example, I'll take one show me and you both listed which was The Wire. Even though you're still not done watching it, The Wire lasts 5 seasons. But it could've gone on for 10. It "ended" because of low ratings. As much as I'd love to go in and do a show that is a trilogy, 3 seasons, and nothing more then that, if that show were to get picked up, I gurantee you it'll go on for 6-7.

[sergio]

Spec. Spidey
Batman TAS
30 Rock (the new season has been up and down though)
Veronica Mars
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica

[tabularasa]

Glad to see a fellow Veronica Mars viewer. That show had amazing writing for at least the first two seasons.

[walkka]

Apr 1, 2010 18:41:02 GMT -5 tabularasa said:

The nature of TV is that you can never go in knowing your end point. It's a good thing for writers to think that, but that's not how a network works. Even HBO, a network that gives writers a lot of free roam, want their shows to go on forever. Um...The Sopranos? Should've ended a long time before it did. And you can bet True Blood is going to be around for awhile. A network is not going to invest in a show that's only going to be around for 3 years. The writers of Lost always thought 5 seasons would be good enough. They got 6 instead.

I'm not really sure where you're getting the super powers thing from. Do you mean Jacob and the man in black? They're like gods. I can see your problem with that, but at the same time there was a smoke monster in the first 3 seasons and Walt had powers as well. It's not like they sprung that on you, it was always there. I'd also disagree about flash forewards being a cheap trick. It was a different narrative to tell the story. And if they had just done what flash foreward and then never done it again, it would've felt like a cheap tease.

But again that's just the nature of TV. You're supposed to go into a pitch and pitch a show that can last 10 seasons. It's never supposed to only last 2 or 3. For example, I'll take one show me and you both listed which was The Wire. Even though you're still not done watching it, The Wire lasts 5 seasons. But it could've gone on for 10. It "ended" because of low ratings. As much as I'd love to go in and do a show that is a trilogy, 3 seasons, and nothing more then that, if that show were to get picked up, I gurantee you it'll go on for 6-7.

Okay opening notes. Looking at what you like and I like, it seems to be very similar. I watch all of your show, but I'm not sure how many on my list you watch. I imagine at least half. I also don't really want to be bashing Lost every day. As I say, I like the show but think it should have ended sooner, that is all.

I feel the show really started to show it's age in Season 3 when the show was told it was going to on longer. We got the "Origin of Jack's Tatoos" episode I thought "wow this is bad".

By flash forwards being a cheap trick what I mean is that we invested all this time (3 years time in fact) in these past life stories that were coming to a close. I feel to keep the flow the show should have ended. Instead they swapped to flash forwards out of, what seemed to be, a lack of anywhere else to go. I didn't like it.

Super powered Walt and the luck, Walt's dad can't kill himself because the island says so, Desmond sees the future, Richard lives forever, That combat medic dude dies and can still come back. Those are a few of the powers. And most recently we have the Ra's Al Gul rip at the start of this season. Lazarus Pit and all. I know Ra's took that from an OLD story but still more super powers. I realize this is a Super hero forum and I love "supers" but that was not the tone the show set in it's pilot. Or at least not the tone I got nor the tone everyone else I speak to got.

As for longevity. Well I know this is a problem for North American TV as a whole. If you notice my top shows didn't have time to run it's course. Arrested was a PERFECT length. If you look at anime. They set all there shows up to be X episode long and don't NORMALLY go past that despite popularity. Evangelion is an excellent example of that.

Also the original plan for the show was far more simple and mainly short. In fact Michael Keaton was going to play Jack and die within the first 1/2 of season one. This more a fun fact then anything else.

In closing. I just feel it fell victim to TV before it was able to be amazing. But it is still better then a lot of shows out there. As I was trying to say earlier, I'm REALLY waiting to see how they end it all. To me I think Lost is a show that will be largely judged on it's ending. If they tie everything up in a nice bow and it all works . . . I'll be a happy person.

PS. I hope you are having as much fun debating as I am. Some people get mad. I hope that isn't you.

PSS Sorry. I have dyslexia and a lot of the time I mess up grammer.